Tales from Hogwarts, the things JK didn't tell you
by shermitkermit
Summary: Set in the Summer after the fifth book, just before the sixth book begins. An alternative view on the events at Hogwarts. Told from a couple of different characters POVs, the first chapter is told from Lupin's point of view. Remus gets a letter from a student inviting him to Harry's birthday.
1. Chapter 1: One Hectic Morning

**If this goes to plan I'm hoping to do each chapter (maybe) from a different character's point of view, so they won't all be told like this. Similarly each character will have a fairly different story to tell as they all go on different adventures. Feel free to request a character who's point of view to tell the story from, they should be fairly relevant to where the story is at although they will all pretty much to fit together somewhere along the lines. This first chapter is about Remus therefore told from his point of view. Please bare in mind I may include a couple of pairings and such that you might not like/agree with. If this is the case please remember not all chapters will be about a certain pairing, or necessarily any pairing at all. I hope you enjoy it though, please let me know what you think!**

Chapter 1

One Hectic Morning

Awakening from his slumber Remus realised he had almost missed his stop, if his nap had overrun five minutes later he'd soon of completely passed Kings Cross Station and be on his way god knows where. Upon meeting other wizards unfamiliar with muggle transport he prided himself on knowing the London bus route stop for stop, all up until Kings Cross. Anywhere after that was irrelevant to him and therefore he did not find it useful to memorise the stops beyond. He frequently reminded himself he should take it upon him to learn them, however he found it tedious to corrupt his brain with stops he was sure he would never need to know. It was at times like this when he almost slept through his final destination he regretted this decision.

Neatly folding his muggle newspaper and setting it down on the spare seat next to him he hauled his suitcase off of the floor and pulled the handle up. He continued to wheel his case down the aisle and off of the bus; today's stories of politicians playing up and governments going mad whirling around in his brain. He liked familiarising himself with current muggle events, no matter how boring and irrelevant Sirius had told him they were. Remus missed Sirius. His laugh, the kind of laugh that made everyone in the room either join in or fear what prank had been pulled on them and was now the source of the hilarity - usually the latter. Sirius had always been the mischievious kind, Remus recalled one Halloween sneaking out of the boys' dormitory with him and down to the Slytherin common room where, after getting in using the password Dennis Basset has naively told them in a game of Truth or Dare (how Sirius discovered most pupil's secrets), they had set lose three dozen cornish pixies and compelled them to sing Happy Birthday repeatedly until told otherwise by Sirius himself. Remus chuckled to himself. That had been a good night.

"Oi!" Remus was suddenly ripped out of the memory by a sharp, high pitched squeal. Turning to his left he discovered the source of the voice.

"Geraldine!" Remus smiled, somewhat awkwardly. "Neva, in my entire life 'ave I been as outraged as I am today!" She continued to yell even as she approached him. Her cockney accent piercing Remus's sensitive ears and causing a couple of passing muggles to glance over. Remus looked at her, confused.

"My birthday!" She went on, realising the man she was talking to was not going to catch on any time soon. "The one day a year _I _am supposed to be the one in charge, the one day a year it's _me_ that gets fussed ova, and where 'ave you been, on a bloody BUS!" she said the word with such disgust and anguish it was clear, even to a muggle she disapproved of Remus's decision to take muggle transport. His eyes darting around, painfully searching for someone nearby to come to his rescue and interrupt their -so far one sided- conversation. But he had no luck, instead he rubbed his temples with one hand and mumbled something about being 'called into work'.

"Work? Work!" The angry woman screamed, she did not disremind Remus of Bellatrix LeStrange. The mangled dark hair, the pale white skin and the shriek she never failed to let out when she spoke. "You work in a _school _you idiot, what could they possibly want with you in the middle of the Summer holidays!" It was only then Remus realised the flaw in his excuse. It was time to step it up, his train left in ten minutes and he needed to be on it if he was going to make it in time. The truth would take him too long, he decided, instead he fobbed his ex girlfriend off with some rushed story of a burst pipe. She was not cleverer than she looked, so bought the lie and before she had time to retort Remus was racing across the road and into the station.

Geraldine and Remus had split on good terms after a two year relationship. Good terms ofcourse for Geraldine was she did not order to have her ex other half confunded and sent to Azkaban for a crime she compelled him to confess to. She had been so obsessed with Remus that after he left her to 'focus on his career' she had him come every year to her Birthday Ball simply so she could flaunt her latest boyfriend in front of him. Remus did not mind this as once a year he got to eat glorious food and laugh at his pathetic ex all in return for spending a couple of measly hours in her family's mansion. At the end of the night he would slip three slices of cake into his pocket and make a sarcastic remark about Geraldine's dress before disappearing into the night. Despite this the woman still persisted to invite him every year, desperately hoping it would be that particular year Remus realised his 'true feelings' and came running back into her arms. It could not be any clearer that Remus had never really had any feelings for the witch and was simply with her because Sirius fancied her and he enjoyed taunting him by describing their long nights together, none of which actually happened due to the fact he found her utterly replusive. He thought it was rather ironic that Sirius met his end under the hands of a woman that could of been her double, he wondered if that was why he didn't struggle when Bellatrix attacked him, could he of just been imagining Geraldine? Remus wondered if he should of explained any of this to her, after all, it hadn't even been one year since... No. He had enough to do today without telling his ex girlfriend about his best friend being killed. He would write her a letter. Maybe. For now he just had to focus on getting to the castle.

The train made the sound he had come to recognise from a mile away. He remembered when he first heard the excited whistle as the train pulled out of the station and began the seemingly never ending journey to Hogwarts. It was only when he first arrived, freshly dressed in his new robes, Sirius on his left still in his home clothes - he had been determined not to get dressed until the very last minute- James sitting opposite fiddling excitedly with his collar, that he didn't feel ready enough. He remembered wishing the journey was longer, another ten minutes perhaps. He felt he needed more time to prepare for what he should expect. Should he get his hopes up or should he pretend not to care? After all, he didn't want to seem to eager, that was James's job. But before he knew it was was being hurrily pushed into a crowded boat and shuffled through those magnificent doors. He had never looked back after that. Hogwarts was his home and he knew it, he had known it, for many years. Returning now felt so good, like coming home after a holiday abroad. It had only been a little over two years since Remus taught Defence Against The Dark Arts to Harry and his friends, yet it seemed like a lifetime ago. He hadn't seen any of them since Sirius's death. They had gone back to school and he had returned too the muggle world, seldom coming out of his apartment in the day time and occasionally acting as a go between from the Order to the Ministry. He pictured Harry's face and was quickly met with a fleeting image of James. He pictured Harry's scar, his glasses. He wondered if Harry still wore his glasses. What was he doing _ofcourse _Harry still wore his glasses he's Harry Potter for God's sake! His thoughts quickly broadened to the other students. Ron, Harry's best friend. Ron was a joker. He reminded Remus a lot of Sirius, in a slightly dopey way. Ron lacked the intellegence Sirius had, the intellegence Sirius _needed_ in order to pull the stunts he did.

He pulled the letter from his pocket. He had rolled it up and carefully tied the parchment with the gold ribbon it had come wrapped in. Opening it up and smiling at the sheer precision it had been written in, he reread it for a good fourth time, checking there was nothing he'd missed.

_Dear Professor Lupin,_

_I know you don't teach at Hogwarts anymore however I thought it intrusive to call you by your first name. Perhaps Professor was childish, maybe Sir would of been more profound. Sorry for my informality and having to rush this letter but I have Ancient Runes in five minutes and if I'm late again I fear I may be told to cut down the amount of classes I'm talking which is totally barbaric as I am perfectly capable of taking twelve. Anyway enough of my rambling, as you might know Harry's birthday is fast approaching. I know it's two months away however I thought it best to inform you and make sure you don't have any prior plans. Ronald and I are arranging a gathering, a party if you don't mind, and I know he'd be thrilled to have you there. We are hoping Dumbledore will allow us to have the Room of Requirement as the venue, however if he disapproves we will let you know the altered arrangements. If you don't hear anything further, assume that we've been granted permission to have it from 8pm on July 31st. _

_Also, please do not mention any of this to Harry as we're attempting to surprise him. That is if Ronald can keep his mouth shut for longer than it takes him to chew his food._

_Hope to see you there!_

_Hermione Granger x_

Remus found himself grinning from ear to ear. He pictured Hermione rushing to write the letter in her dormitory before rushing off to her class. She never failed to astound him with the amount of effort she put into her schoolwork. Despite her superior attitude to classes, Hermione reminded him somewhat of himself at her age, even now perhaps. He may not have shown the same commitment to lessons but when he wanted something, to learn something or achieve something, he committed to it 100%. He put his mind to retaining his... condition in the same way Hermione put her mind to school work and, apparently letter writing too! He remembered the first time he had met her, on this very train. Infact, hang on a minute. He stood up to check the number on the cabin before flopping back down into his seat. Yes, it had been, in this very cabin! He was a little surprised by this and wondered whether it meant something, a sign perhaps. He read the penultimate line again. _Hope to see you there_. Had she written that on all the invitations, yes. Yes she must of. But what if she hadn't? What if-

He was, for the second time today, ripped clean out of his thoughts by a voice acknowledging him.

"Professor!" He was momentarily stunned for he though he was the only one on the train. Who else would be travelling to Hogwarts today, unless-

Lupin's eyes widened and he felt his whole body go rigid. He was not greeted by the girl he had just been reminiscing meeting. No, he was met with a much older looking young woman. The girl standing in the doorway was dressed in muggle clothes as was he, she wore loose fitting jeans and a pale blue satin blouse, only the top button undone. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, it looked darker than he remembered, with a few strands falling upon her perfectly formed face. He immediately jumped up, a little too fast perhaps, as his head hit the ceiling with a bang. The next thing he knew he was on the floor, a girl's voice softly calling his name. He recognised it as the voice that had addressed him not a second before. Atleast, he thought it hadn't been a second.

Opening his eyes he was immediately met by the girl he had just totally embarrassed himself in front of.

"Thank God you're _alive_!" Hermione beamed "I would of hated to be the one to explain to him you'd missed his birthday because you were dead!"

Ofcourse it had only been a few months since Remus had seen Hermione, yet something was different about her. He couldn't put his finger on it.

"What happened?" Remus went to get up of the floor but Hermione gently prevented him but putting her hand on his chest. "Don't try to get up, we've still got a few minutes before we get there." Her voice flowed through him like a warm breeze. He looked up at her and immediately shook himself from his stupor. Dismissing Hermione's words Remus hopped to his feet and brushed himself down. Asserting himself, he sat back down opposite the girl who had just made sure he was alright, he felt he should thank her but was too embarrassed. Instead he just asked her what she was doing on the train. Had she been at Kings Cross too?

"No no," she stopped him mid sentence. "I apparated onto the train to check who was coming. I found Mr and Mrs Weasley chatting in the end carriage and Lucius Malfoy mumbling something to himself three cabins down. I'm not entirely sure why he's on here because I certainly didn't invite him to Harry's birthday. And then I found you!"

"Now Miss Granger you didn't think I'd miss out on a party did you?"

"Well I must admit I wasn't all that sure you'd want to I mean, what with everything that's happened in the last year..."

"You don't have to tread on eggshells with me Miss Granger. I'm a werewolf not a chihuahua." He thought he saw a little smile cross Hermione's mouth.

"Sirius is gone, I've come to terms with that. I can only hope Harry has done the same."

"Well that's just the thing," she looked apprehensive about what she was about to say. "Harry hasn't really been... _himself_ lately Professor." Remus gave her a look as if to tell her to go on. "He's been. Well... Harry's been being a bit of an ass lately." Remus was intregued, yet he had to grin at Hermione's view on her friend's behaviour. Hermione went on to explain to Remus how Harry had been playing up a lot since the death of his godfather. Skipping classes, casting spells on other pupils. Nothing serious ofcourse, just harmless jinxes, but nevertheless Hermione was worried. Worried that these jinxes may progress to something more dangerous and how she was unsure of how to help Harry out of the dark place he was in. That was partly, she explained, why she'd invited him. Remus was the closest connection Harry had, after Sirius, to his mother and father. It was upon being reminded of this that Remus felt a little guilty for abandoning him so soon after the incident. However another thing Hermione said plagued on his mind perhaps a little more than it should of. That was partly why she'd invited him. _Partly? _Could there of been another factor which told Hermione to write to him. He would have to ponder this later, he figured, as the whistle had just blown signalling the train was pulling into the station.

They had arrived.


	2. Chapter 2: Too Quiet

Chapter 2

Too Quiet

_I know where you are Harry Potter,_

_you cannot hide from me_

_You and I are connected in ways you cannot imagine,_

_Neither can live while the other survives_

Voldermort's cruel whisper made every inch of Harry's body numb. He sat up on his bed and stared for a few moments out of the window next to his bunk. Rain. Wonderful weather for his birthday. He didn't know why he was surprised; it had been raining excessively since Sunday, why should his birthday be any different?

Reaching over and fumbling around on his bedside cabinet he found his glasses and a half empty muggle energy drink, he couldn't read the label without his glasses on but Dudley had called it some form of coloured animal. Blue Horse? Without pondering the name any longer Harry downed the remaining contents of the can, which had now gone flat and set it back down on the cabinet. Recoiling slightly at the taste he pushed his glasses onto his nose and slipped his jeans on. Still half asleep he slipped his feet into his shoes and shuffled over to the mirror, waiting for the drink to kick in. It was all he had been relying on lately to keep him awake, the restless nights had been plaguing him since the rain started, Voldemort's voice haunting his dreams, although they were more like nightmares. He stared at himself for a bit before attempting to run a comb through his hair. It was almost impossible. He hadn't brushed his hair for days and it was starting to show. Finally taking matters into his own hands he grabbed Ron's shaver from his suitcase which had been lying open on the floor by his bed. No longer than five minutes later and Harry's hair, now much shorter, was finally looking presentable. He looked proudly at his new reflection and nodded at himself before saying

'today will be a good day'.

Putting thoughts of Voldemort out of his head he made his way down the stairs and out of the common room. He checked his watch, it read ten past twelve. Harry wondered why no one had bothered to wake him up on his birthday. He shrugged it off after deciding they must of thought he deserved a lie in on his birthday. He wondered where his friends would be as he wondered the seemingly deserted corridoors. He passed very few people on his way down to Hagrid's. All but two of the first years had gone home for the summer, as had Hermione. She always went home for the holidays. Harry didn't blame her. If he had a family like hers, or any family at all, he was sure he'd go back to see them at any given opportunity. Ron, however, had been in the middle of a family argument the last time he went home - something about not feeding the owls resulting in a postal strike, Harry had been too busy thinking about Sirius to listen - therefore had decided it best to steer clear of The Burrow this year. Harry also passed Nearly Headless Nick, who gave him a slight tip of the head and a wink as he walked by, which Harry thought was odd. Dismissing it as the usual random ghost behaviour Harry continued on his way to Hagrid's. He had promised Hagrid he would pop in on his birthday after he revealed he had a surprise for Harry. Harry didn't bother pestering him with questions and guesses as to what it was, he wasn't even all that sure he cared. He hoped it wouldn't be another creature Hagrid had been sold down Diagon Alley for next to nothing. The giant couldn't resist a bargain, especially where dragons were concerned. Harry wondered what he would say if he was handed another such creature. "Uuh, thanks Hagrid, it's just what I wanted," Harry practised under his breath, before silencing himself as he was approached by a tall, slim, blonde figure.

"Well well," Malfoy sneered, "if it isn't the birthday boy,"

Harry detected the sarcasm in his voice and pulled a face similar to that a twelve year old would do when his mother had neglected him the last shortbread.

"Have you got my present now or is it too heavy for your little limbs to carry?" Harry retorted. It came out so brilliantly Harry thought it almost sounded rehearsed. Drace and Harry were of similar height, yet the difference in muscle structure was undoubtable. Harry was not the strongest for his age, nor did he bear the largest biceps in Hogwarts, yet it was clear to anyone that if duels came down to sheer build then Draco would come off worse off. Unfortunately for Harry, this was not how it worked.

Draco looked impressed by Harry's remark and allowed the corner of his mouth to slip into a smirk.

"Not bad," he raised his eyebrows as he nodded approvingly, "for _you_ anyway. You haven't seen Ginny anywhere have you?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at the boy opposite him. A third year sprinted past the boys in his pyjamas, shortly followed by an unruly owl who seemed to be chasing him.

"No," Harry replied slowly, wondering why Draco had asked. "Why do you ask?"

Draco smirked and shook his head. "No reason," he said in a carefree forget-I-said-anything tone. "Have a good birthday Potter." Before Harry had time to ask questions Draco had disappeared; if Harry would have turned to watch him he would have saw the blonde figure strut into the distance, lightly chuckling to himself, but Harry had more pressing matters on his mind, like discovering what wonderful gift Hagrid had found for him.

Ten minutes later Harry was outside Hagrid's door. After knocking three times and hearing a rough voice bellow "won't be a minute 'Arry!" he turned to cast his eyes upon the castle. Hogwarts was a strong stone building, even in the rain it stood magnificently, proudly watching down over it's students. Harry thought he saw Dumbledore in the window of his office watching him, but he couldn't be sure as before he could take a second look the door was flung open and he was being thrust into a ginormous hug. "'Appy birthday 'Arry!" Hagrid beamed, although Harry couldn't tell, as his face was buried deeply in the giant's sleeve. When Hagrid finally let go Harry followed him into his hut and shut the door.

"So wha' d'ya get?" Hagrid asked as he filled the kettle with water. Sitting down, Harry petted Fang and picked up the square parcel sitting on the table. He shook it gently, attempting to guess what was inside. But it was no use, he decided. This was Hagrid, for all Harry knew it could of been a tribe of fairies.

"Well I haven't actually _seen _anyone today really, apart from Malfoy."

"Oh rite, well wha' did 'e get you?" Hagrid laughed at his own joke as he poured the tea. Harry laughed weakly. "Oh a'course," Hagrid caught sight of Harry shaking the present. "Yeh can open yer present now if ye like!"

Harry nodded and apprehensively unwrapped the gift. Upon removing all of the brown paper, Harry was left holding a cardboard box. He breathed a sigh of relief as whattever creature was inside of the box, Harry assumed, could not be that dangerous, otherwise Hagrid wouldn't of kept it in a flimsy cardboard box. Nevertheless, Harry was still nervous whilst opening the box. The only noise in the hut was the clinking of the teaspoon as Hagrid stirred the tea. No screetching. No roaring. Nothing was yet on fire. This amount of tranquility was rare when Hagrid gave presents. Harry continued to open the box. He managed to rip the top off and peered inside to examine the contents. Inside the box was... a cake? Yes a cake. Not dissimilar to the one Hagrid gave Harry the first time they met, six years ago today.

"Wow Hagrid, thanks." Harry had to admit to himself, he was a little disappointed. As much as he pretended to despise Hagrid's useless gifts, they were one of the few sources of enjoyment he had left. Hagrid set Harry's tea down next to his cake and proceeded to sit down himself.

"Don't look too exci'ed" Hagrid laughed. "See 'Arry, that there ain't no ordinary cake. You give someone a slice of tha', and yeh can 'ear their thoughts! Only while they'm eatin' mind. Once they finished the last mouthful the magic's gone, and yer left with quite a strong aftertaste actually."

Harry beamed. There it was. The random, useless gift Harry recieved every year. This was actually one of the better ones.

"Does it really... Does it really work?" Harry asked, not wanting to sound patronising, but Hagrid's gifts weren't usually known for their... reliability.

"You tryn'a insinuate my gifts ain't legitamate?" Hagrid smiled. "'Ere, watch this." The whole hut shook as Hagrid stood up. He walked over to the kitchen and pulled a knife out of the drawer. Cutting a slither of cake and throwing it to Fang, the dog caught it in a milisecond and gulped it down. Immediately Harry's own thoughts were pushed to one side and his brain was taken over with the thoughts of Hagrid's pet. Harry laughed as the phrases "mmm this is nice" "is that a spider?" "I love food" "ooh spiders" repeatedly ran through his mind. Hagrid ofcourse, could not hear what Harry was hearing, nevertheless he was in hysterics at Harry's reaction to his present. After a brief five seconds of hilarity Harry was brought back down to Earth and was struggling for air from laughing too much as was Hagrid.

After Harry had finished his tea and Hagrid had accidentally consumed two slices of the magic cake, Harry thanked Hagrid and said goodbye, before making his way back to the castle. The rain had stopped and as he breathed in Harry's lungs were filled with the cold damp air. He checked his watch. Quarter past two. Harry had been at Hagrid's for almost two hours. He realised he really didn't have much to do this afternoon. He would look for Ron later, he decided, for now he would go for a walk. Trudging though the mud Harry cast his mind back to the conversation he had had prior to going to Hagrid's.

_Why was Draco asking about Ginny?_

Was he just trying to toy with Harry's mind? There can't of been anything more to it. Or was there? No there can't of been. But what if...

These thoughts played on Harry's mind until he reached the Whomping Willow. He was instantly transported back to his third year at Hogwarts; when he first met Sirius. He first discovered he had been framed. Where he had offered Harry the chance to come and live with him. Harry longed to relive that night. He managed to weave his way through the branches and dodge the angry swings it took at him as he made his way to the passageway. Entering the passage he made his way to the Shreaking Shack. Upon reaching it Harry was surprised that the usually mundanely dark abode was filled with beaming sunlight. From the ceiling to the floor each room was overflowing with light so piercing he had to close his eyes.

Harry moved over to the window and peered out through squinted eyes. He could see Hogwarts basking in the sunshine, even the Whomping Willow looked pleased that Summer appeared to have finally arrived. Harry was suddenly filled with happy memories of Quidditch and sitting outside the castle with his friends, daring each other hilariously childish tasks. He could see himself now, sat outside, laying in the sun with Ron, exchanging views on the most attractive girl in Hogwarts. Ron would squirm when Harry said Ginny, Hermione would just shake her head disapprovingly and mutter something about objectifying women and return to her reading of whattever book was her latest prchase. For a moment he thought he could actually see her down there now. Not in the daydream sequence he was having, but actually there. In a blue blouse and jeans. It certainly _looked_ like her. But by the time Harry's eyes had adjusted to the sunlight she was gone.

Harry must of been imagining her. What would she being doing in Hogwarts in the Summer Holidays. She was at home. With her family. Harry was suddenly drawn to the dim realisation that he would have to go and find his friends, as it seemed they were in no hurry to find him. Turning to exit through the passageway Harry was met with a dark haired figure standing in the doorframe.

"Well well, Mr Potter, fancied a stroll about the Shreaking Shack in the middle of the day? Feeling a tad nostalgic are we?"

Snape's echoing voice vibrated through Harry like black velvet.

"No Sir, just... just thinking."

"About..." Snape proceded to say in a do-go-on tone.

"About things." Harry replied vacantly, turning his head to gaze back out of the window. "About Sirius, and how things could of been... different."

Harry was not looking but he could tell Snape flinched at the mention of his former classmate. Never the less the man glided silently over to stand behind him. "Sometimes things don't turn out how we expect, nor want. Yet our actions could never have foretold nor prevented them. No matter how much we wish they had."

Harry could of sworn there was a hint of remorse in his voice. A sort of sadness that was most uncommon to be heard in the voice of the potions teacher. He was still not looking at Snape, yet somehow he knew that he was, as Harry was, staring vacantly out of the window. As if both of them were waiting, hoping for something, or someone to appear below, waving up at them. But there was no one. Not a soul was present in the grounds below them. In fact, there was nobody anywhere. Harry's eyes scowered the windows for signs of life but there was no one.

Where _was_ everybody?

The school was quiet.

Too quiet.


	3. Chapter 3: Free Drinks!

Chapter Three

~ Free drinks!

On his way back to the castle Harry scowered the grounds for his friends, for anyone, yet nobody was around. He contemplated stopping by Hagrid's on the way back just to check there wasn't a Hogsmeade visit he'd forgotten about or something, but the thick grey smoke usually exhaling from the chimney on the roof of his hut was nowhere in sight. Hagrid always had his fire going so he must of been out. Harry quickened his pace a bit as he approached the entrance to the castle. He wondered what Snape had been doing in the Shreaking Shack. Did he know Harry was there? Did he go in with the sole purpose of catching Harry off guard, or was it simply a coincidence the two had met in the deserted house. If so, what _was_ he doing there?

Heading for the common room he wondered what his friends had gotten him for his birthday. Had Hermione had time to send him a present or would she give it to him when term started? Had she even gotten him anything? He didn't want to get his hopes up but nevertheless it was his birthday and he was excited. Reaching the entrance Harry muttered the words 'Hollies Amosa', he wasn't sure if it was the right password, it had been changed so frequently lately due to first years not knowing the meaning of 'password' he wasn't even sure he'd been told the new one. Thankfully it was correct and the fat lady gave him a wink as the door swung open. Harry looked around the common room and was not surprised, due to previous events that day, that the place was deserted. Nobody was there, not Ron, not Neville, not a soul. He wondered if his friends were playing some sort of 'hilarious' birthday joke on him, he wouldn't be surprised if Ron had got Fred and George involved. Harry had an idea.

Rummaging under his bed Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak, which hadn't been used since he and Ron had snuck into the Forbidden Forest in March to find some Dittany for Hermione, which she had needed for an extra credit herbology assignment. Pulling it over himself he exited the common room and proceeded to roam the castle, searching for any form of life. He managed to reach the second floor stairwell before being abruptly grabbed by two pairs of claw like hands and pulled hastily into what looked like a cupboard. After the hands persisted to drag him a good few metres into the darkness Harry came to the conclusion it was either a very large cupboard, or some sort of passageway. It was too dark for Harry to make out the identity of his capturers, but he recognised the long flowing mane of blonde hair on one of them, the one pulling his left arm down the passage. The other figure, dragging him by his right arm was taller than the other and had shorter, medium length hair that reflected the light Harry could only assume was coming from some sort of torch, but he was too disorientated to figure out where he was and who he was with, let alone what they were carrying. After a two minutes running down the passage and around corners, slightly behind the figures to avoid being dragged along the floor, they seemed to finally be slowing down and eventually they stopped. Harry caught his breath and peered into the darkness, although in a second he wouldn't need to, for the identity of his kidnappers would be revealed.

There was the sound of a large stone door being pulled open and the passageway flooded with light, illuminating the soft features of Luna Lovegood and the pale face of Ginny Weasley.

"Luna," Harry said, confused. "_Ginny?_ What are y-" Harry was cut off mid sentence by the tremendous roar of the room of people cry "Happy Birthday Harry!"

Harry's eyes lit up as he scanned the room hastily trying to take everything in. Everyone he loved and cared about was in this room. Aswell as students there were ghosts, centaurs, he even spotted Professor Lupin talking to Hagrid over by the bowl of deep red punch. Ron, Neville, Seamus, Luna, Ginny, Hermione... _Hermione! _Ofcourse! He hadn't been hallucinating earlier, he really had saw Hermione in the school grounds! It felt good to know he wasn't going crazy, and even better to know the people he thought had been avoiding his all day had instead been putting all their effort into throwing him a party! A real life surprise party! He had read about them in Hermione's teen witch magazines she sometimes left lying around the common room, he'd even heard about one that was thrown for Dean Thomas's second cousin last year, but never did he ever expect to be the subject of one. He was so thrilled to have everyone he loved in the same room tht he didn't even realise he had been swept off the ground and hoisted up above people's heads and was now being taken to his closest friends via crowd-surf. His invisibility cloak had fallen off somewhere along the line but he'd find it later, for now he was having far too much fun. Upon reaching Hermione and Ron Harry was lowered to the ground and patted on the back by several fellow Gryffindors.

"How the hell did you manage-" Harry was cut off for the second time in ten minutes.

"Have you _met_ Hermione?" Ron beamed. "She's had the whole thing organised for _months_."

"Honestly Ronald it's not hard to put together a few balloons and invite a couple of old friends," Hermione blushed. "Hermione I... you are so brilliant." Harry pulled her into a huge bear hug.

"That's what they tell me," her laugh was muffled into his shoulder. She hastily pulled away from the hug to tell Harry a detailed guest list of who was here. She needn't have bothered for every five seconds he was getting tapped on the shoulder and or getting someone put their arm round him and wish him happy birthday. He was also getting drinks shoved into his hands every two minutes, not wanting to disappoint his aquaintances he proceeded to down every butterbeer he was given. Needless to say by the time the first hour passed he was far from sober. The quiet day was a distant memory to him as he partied and danced the night away with a different girl on each arm every other song. Neville had volunteered to DJ and had been offered -and accepted- so many products from the older boys that he was sure had been purchased from Knockturn alley that he wasn't even sure of his own name any more, he kept introducing himself as 'DJ Ned in the house of Gryff'. Everyone was having a wonderful time, allbeit an under the influence wonderful time, but a wonderful time none the less. Even Hermione had taken to consuming a couple of glasses of elderflower wine.

* * *

Hermione hated the taste of wine, but she thought consuming a bottle of butterbeer made her look uncivilised. She would never admit it, but occasionally she envied Ron and Harry. They were boys, they were allowed to be immature and drinnk too much. They were allowed to make fools out of themselves and do things they would regret in the morning. As the mature female figure of the group Hermione always felt she had a duty to maintain her dignity, even if that meant missing out on the fun, and she had to admit, it did look like they were having a lot of fun. Her eyes scanned the dancefloor and spotted Harry dancing with a racily dressed witch named Josie Finchewald and Ron grinding on Nearly Headless Nick. Laughing inwardly and shaking her head she decided she didn't want to know. Feeling an emptiness in her stomach she realised she hadn't eaten since breakfast and even then she had been to nervous to manage much more than half a piece of toast. She made her way over to the buffet table (filled with platters of reappearing food, you would take a chicken drumstick and seconds later if would reappear out of nowhere. Hermione had found these on at a deal of thirty nine sickles for five and thought they were fantastic!) where she ran into Hagrid, he was chatting to Lupin, whom Hermione hadn't spoken to since their rushed greeting on the train this morning. She had quickly said goodbye to him and hurried inside to prepare for the party. Their meeting this morning had been playing on her mind, it had seemed like there was something on his mind and now she was able to ask him what it was. Not before she was pulled into an enormous (even bigger than Harry's) bear hug by none other than Hagrid himself. "Well if it ain't the party planner 'erself, I 'ope 'Arry's given you a proper thankin' fer all this," he said with his mouth full as he gobbled up three ham sandwiches in one mouthful. The angle Hagrid was stood at upon pulling Hermione into a hug caused her to be pushed almost face to face with Lupin. They momentarily made eye contact before Hagrid pulled away to refill his plate.

"Oh, yes ofcourse Hagrid he's, well he's... having a great time," Hermione nodded towards the dancefloor where Harry and Ron had now managed to get a game of limbo going.

"Cheeky sods," Hagrid grinned almost approvingly, causing Lupin and Hermione to appress their laughter. Hagrid's longing to join them was evident as he made some mumbled excuse about having to tell Harry something and lumbering over to the dancefloor. Hermione and Lupin both burst into laughter as the ginormous man attempted to join the game of limbo on the other side of the room. The thought of Hagrid limbo'ing obviously appealed to many others as the majority of the party goers were now crwded around the dancefloor doubled over in laughter and taking pictures as the giant rolled clumsily around on the floor.

"I see he hasn't changed one bit," Lupin said absent mindedly, not taking his eyes off of the fracus. Hermione smiled. "Hagrid and alcohol do _not _go well together," she replied.

"What about you," Lupin turned to look down at her. He was considerably taller than her yet she didn't feel intimidated by his height. She simply tilted her head up slightly to meet his gaze.

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"Please," Lupin raised his hand in a 'stop' gesture, "call me Remus, I'm not your teacher anymore, therfore I feel no guilt in allowing you to call me by my name. Just don't tell the other kids," Remus grinned. Hermione laughed, letting out a snort and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Embarrassed she turned to pretend to be deciding what to eat. Remus appeared not to have noticed her outburst and went on.

"I meant what about you and alcohol, you seem to be, what's the phrase, 'putting them away'," he said nodding at the glass of elderflower wine in her hand, "yet you don't seem to be any less dignified than your usual self. Now something tells me this is because one of two reasons, either by some miraculous turn of events you, Miss Granger, have become immune to the effects of alcohol or..."

"or I've been watering down my wine because I absolutely cannot bloody stand the vile taste of it."

Hermione's eyes widened as she realised what she had just said and immediately apologized for being out of order.

"Professor I'm so sorry I didn't mean to -"

"Hermione, relax, I'm here as Harry's friend, as _your _friend, not as your teacher." Taking the glass out of Hermione's hand and replacing it with a bottle of butterbeer he had grabbed from the table and opened smoothly with his sharp canine teeth, he took a sip of the wine himself. The face he made upon trying it conveyed the feeling he hated the wine as much as she did.

"And what did I say about calling me Professor?"

There was something about the way he had used her name. Her actual name. No adult, bar Hagrid, had ever called her by anything other than Miss Granger. Hearing him utter her first name from his lips set off some sort of alarm bell in her head, but she assumed that was just the large gulp of beer she had just taken. Looking around nervously to check no one was watching her she lowered the bottle from her mouth.

"If you're looking for a single soul in this room that will think lower of you for not drinking that God awful substance -" he nodded at the glass of wine he had now emptied into a plant pot in the window sill "-then you will almost definitely be disappointed. Look around you Hermione, look at your classmates, look at your friends. Don't you just want to be having care free fun like them?" There he went again, the way her stomach twisted when he used her name like it was some kind of taboo, she glanced over at the now even larger crowd aroud the dancefloor. They were now the only ones not observing Hagrid going wild, apart from Cho Chang who was weeping in the corner and talking to a stamp sized photograph of Cedric, Peeves who was going round spiking the drinks of anyone who had been naive enough to leave their drinks unattended and Hannah Winchester who was sat alone at a table and appeared to be talking to herself.

"...Ok," Hermione said cautiously. "You know what, you're right, I did all this for Harry, I prepared everything, I invited everyone, now it's my turn to have some fun. Yeah!" Hermione took another large gulp of her butterbeer and let out a hiccup. Remus smiled down at her before taking the seat next to her. They were now pretty much at the same level and Hermione went on to ask him what was bothering him earlier on the train.

"It seemed like you had something on your mind," she asked him.

He quickly shook his head, "no no," he replied quickly. "I just... had a bad headache this morning that's all, didn't want to worry you, it's only been a few days since," he looked towards the window and nodded up at the moon which was glowing promenantly up in the blue black sky.

"Oh right," Hermione could of hit herself, "of course, how was it?" She wasn't even sure why she was asking about his transition, she knew about what happened, she'd read page 364 countless times for fun even before Snape had set the essay two years ago.

"Oh you know it was um... it was fine," Remus shrugged. "Nothing special, killed a few muggles but you know nothing uh... nothing that special," his lips curled into a cheeky grin.

Hermione's mouth opened into a silent gasp.

"You can't joke about things like that!" She hit him jokingly on the arm. By now she had drank three thirds of her butterbeer and being the lightweight she was was already beginning to feel the effects. Remus realised this and asked if she wanted some food, knowing it would soak up the alcohol, but she declined. He wondered if giving her the butterbeer was the responsible thing to do, he decided it probably wasn't, but several butterbeers and a couple of firewhiskies later and his view was a very different one.


	4. Chapter 4: Four Minutes Late

**I'm sorry if I appear to be running away with this Remione stuff, the other characters will get stories, be patient kids. Also I genuinely am sorry for the case gag. ****Also you do not know how hard it was not to put 'a vagina' in a certain sentence. Kudos if you know which one, haha x**

* * *

_deep in the dark you surrender your heart but your know_

_but you know that you can't fight the moonlight. _

Chapter 4

~ Four Minutes Late

Stepping off of the train Lupin looked around, trying to find Hermione but she was gone. She had bolted off of that train like an exited child, she _was_ a child. Atleast to him she was. He shook all his thoughts of that day from his head and pulled out the rolled up parchment from his pocket.

_'Dumbledore will allow us the Room of Requirement'_

Lupin had not heard anything more and Hermione had not mentioned any changes to the plan in their brief meeting on the train, so he assumed the venue was still the same. Glancing at his watch it read five fifteen. He had another two and a half hours until he would start making his way to the Room of Requirement. Pondering how to kill time he hauled his case off of the platform. In his case he had packed Harry's present - Davinch Croft's latest book '100 Spells Every Quidditch Player Should Know', he had had good fun reading the first few pages in Flourish and Blotts. It had everything from bludger enchantments to spells that caused every member of the opposing team to sprout elephants trunks. James would of loved it, he would write something about James in Harry's card, he thought, though at the time he didn't know quite what. In the end he had settled for 'I saw this and thought of your father, use it wisely' there was nothing about the snitch in the book however, Lupin decided Harry probably didn't need any spells or enchantments to catch the golden snitch, he was the best seeker Hogwarts had seen in years and Lupin took great pleasure in reading the week's quidditch results in the back pages of the Daily Prophet, as Gryffindor rarely came out as the losing team, thanks to Harry - in his case Lupin had also packed two changes of clothes, just in case. There was a full moon tomorrow and if by some chance he ended up staying overnight -ie, if he had a little too much firewhisky tonight- he would be needing a spare few garments to replace the ones he would rip to shreds during tomorrow's transformation.

Stepping inside the castle he looked up at the enchanted sky, he shared with Harry the feeling of acceptance when he walked throught those doors, although he himself was not forced to share an abode with an abominable excuse for an aunt and uncle and a pig of a cousin, he still felt more at home at Hogwarts than he ever had anywhere else.

The school was quiet, he liked it that way. It wasn't that he hated the children or anything, far from it, when he was teaching he had found the youths that inhabited the school to be wonderfully open minded and interesting, there was just something about the school being all but empty that he liked. It meant he could have as many conversations with the paintings he passed, it meant he could fully take in the renovations that had been put in since he was last here. The staircase on the second floor that had been eroding slightly in previous years had been replaced and was now fresh new stone. The window in the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom that he had accidentally smashed when teaching the students about boggarts had been repaired. He wondered who was teaching the subject these days. A small part of him hoped the post had gone to Snape, it was no secret how much he wanted it, and had wanted it for years. It was at that moment he was greeted by the familiar face that had at that moment had inhabited his thoughts.

"Well well," sneered Snape, "if it isn't Lupin, come to see the birthday boy have we?"

"Funny you should say that Severus I actually came here strictly for the sole purpose of seeing your pretty face."

Snape narrowed his eyes and pulled his signature sucking-on-a-lemon face.

"Witty as ever, I see Lupin, let's just hope your wit saves you almost murdering another couple of students this year," Snape gave a slight tip of the head to the window nearby. Lupin recoiled at this memory. He had felt so guilty after resigning, guilty about almost harming Harry and Ron, almost harming _Hermione. _It was this thought that had made him faulter when reading Hermione's invitation for the first time and question whether or not it would be right, returning to the school after coming so close to harming three of it's students.

_Was_ he doing the right thing? Maybe he should of stayed away. After all, with his transformation due tomorrow night who knows what capers he could get into.

A flicker of regret flashed across Snape's black eyes as if he instantly realised what he had said. The pity in his eyes did not stay for long, as he strutted off with a swish of his cape after saying

"Tell Potter I said happy birthday."

This conversation whirled around in his head as he made his way to his old chamber, he had decided he would see if it had been inhabited by a new teacher before searching for a place to relax elsewhere. He was pleasantly surprised when he reached the familiar large stone door that had once held the name plate 'R J Lupin' to find it had been replaced with... nothing. His name still sat proudly on the door.

_I wonder_

He said inwardly as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small jagged edge key. Inserting it into the keyhole and turning the door made the clicking sound he remembered and swung open.

Many of the other teachers had enchanted their doors to only let them in or had password-protected portraits, like the Fat Lady that guarded the Gryffindor common room. Lupin however, had enchanted his key so that it only worked in the hands of a werewolf. Since there was no other werewolf occupying the castle that he knew of, he was sure his chambers were well insulated.

Stepping inside he was greeted by the familiar scent of the Flitterbloom that grew on the ledge outside of his window. It was not a strong scent, simply a light mixture of vanilla and lemongrass. It wasn't a terrible smell, neither was it the most pleasant, but it was home.

No sooner had Lupin made himself a cup of tea and sunk into the soft brown armchair that sat proudly infront of the window there came a sharp knock on the door. Three knocks to be precised. Sighing heavily Lupin set his tea down on the coffee table and cast the door open with a flick of his wand, too comfortable to get up and open it by hand.

"Ahem,"

The cough that the person standing in his doorway emitted matched the tone of said person's knock. Sharp and quick.

"Remus Lupin?" the voice asked the back of Lupin's chair.

"Who's asking?" Lupin replied boredly, still not interested enough to turn and face the voice.

"Mike Gosling, the new Defending The Dark Arts teacher," the man's arrogance for Lupin's subject angered him enough to turn and face him. Now stood inside the room Lupin was met with a rather short man, or a tall dwarf, he wasn't sure, no taller than Lupin's fridge. He was bald and spoke with a slight American accent. New Jersey, if Lupin's geograpy was correct. He very much reminded him of a muggle actor Lupin had seen on the television back in London. This instantly caused him to take a disliking to him as Lupin had found this actor to be cocky and annoying. Something told him this man had more in common with the actor than just the accent.

"You're the werewolf right? The one that went on a rampage some two years ago?"

"I am he. I'm sorry how did you-"

"I make it my business to know these things," the man that called himself Mike strolled into Lupin's kitchen and ran his forefinger along the counter, discovering the counter had no dust whatsoever (Lupin hated dust, it irritated the werewolf in him so he had cast a self cleaning enchantment back when he stayed here, he had forgotten about it until now) he stuck out his lip and pulled a somewhat approving expression.

"Dumbledore tells me ya here for some dude's party? Must be a swat, spending the summer in school! What is he, twelve? First year? Orphan?"

"His name is Harry, and he's a very good friend of mine, so if you would like to keep the three hairs on your head in tact I don't recommend going round insulting him. He's got a lot of people that care about him in this castle," he looked at his watch, "I actually should be getting there about now so if you don't mind..." it was nowhere near time to go yet but this man was getting on his nerves.

"Sure sure, I'm going I just wanted to..." he opened the fridge, Lupin could only assume he was searching for beers. He chuckled to himself. He would never find anything. The fridge, as well as the key, was enchanted so as to only reveal it's possesions to a werewolf.

What could he say, he liked his food.

Grunting disappointedly the man shut the fridge door and turned on his heels.

"...introduce myself I guess," he finished his sentence.

"Well thanks, but I have no intention of getting myself involved with teaching, or teachers for that matter, at this school again."

"That's understandable," Mike made the same expression as when he discovered there to be no dust on the counter, an expression of approval but something else underneath. "I mean don't get me wrong there's been plenty a time I'd like to throttle a kid but ultimately it ain't gonna get you nowhere in the teachin' ranks, if ya know what I mean." he stepped outside and disappeared before Lupin had time to call after him

"I didn't try to hurt them intentionally, I'd never do that!"

But the man had gone.

Sinking back down into his armchair Lupin took a sip of his tea, which was now colder than he'd of liked. He had to pity Snape, losing out to that loser. He wondered if that was why he had been so snappy with him earlier, before dismissing it as simply normal Snape behaviour. He sunk deeper into his armchair and tilted his head back. Closing his eyes he felt himself drift off into unconsciousness. It had been a long day, filled with two too many run ins that he would rather of avoided. One he had not minded though. His run in with Hermione on the train had surprisingly enough been the highlight of his day so far. He wasn't sure whether she reminded him of Hogwarts and everything he loved about the school, or if she simply just reminded him of himself. He hoped she had not picked up on the fact he seemed to be mesmerized by her appearance. She had looked really pretty though. He replayed their meeting over in his head and thought of things he could of said. Why didn't he comment on her appearance? Why didn't he say she looked extremely pretty? Or even that she looked well! He smiled to himself, realising these were the kind of things you said to people in dreams. Not reality. No matter how pretty she was or how much he wanted to get to know her again, he could not. Although he did not think of her as a child, she was, and he was the figure of authority. He had to remember that. That did not however, stop him from imagining what it would be like if he had not been her teacher. If they had simply met for the first time on the train today. But then we would have a very different story.

Lupin was awoken from his nap by a large brown owl crashing into the window. As the owl slipped down the window pane and flew away Lupin rubbed his eyes and checked his watch. Ten to seven. Grabbing the envelope Ron's unruly bird had delivered him he shoved it in his pocket and hurried to the bathroom. A comb through his hair and a sprig of cologne and he was on his way to the Room of Requirement, Harry's present in one hand and using the other to tear open the letter he had been delivered.

_Dear Professor Lupin_

_Thank you so much for agreeing to come to Harry's party, everyone bar one person has rsvp'd saying they are coming. It should be a great night! See you at eight in the Room of Requirement! _

_Hermione Granger x_

He quickened his pace. His watch said 7.54, he wasn't going to make it. He had to all but run to get there before Harry arrived. Thankfully Ginny and Luna were running late and Harry didn't arrive (unwillingly) until 8.07, three minutes after Lupin arrived.

The party was going great, everyone was talking and drinking and having fun, Lupin had made it his duty to stand by the buffet table and 'look cool'. So far he had spoken to Neville, Fred Weasley and had an interesting conversation with Luna about Gillyweed. He was now involved in a lengthy discussion with Hagrid about Hungarian Horntails, he had yet to speak to Hermione. He had yet to _see_ Hermione. He hoped she hadn't realised he was late. Maybe she was late? Who was he kidding this was Hermione Granger. She'd never been late to anything. It was then she appeared, as if by magic. She was dressed in a gorgeous little red dress, not unlike something the girls in the muggle world were wearing, although she looked far better in it than they did. Hagrid had spotted her aswell and pulled her into a gigantic bear hug, forcing her to be almost face to face with Lupin, causing him to notice her sparkling brown eyes and long black eyelashes. She really was beautiful, he hoped she knew that. He imagined the boys must of been lining up for her. Yet none of them quite seemed good enough for her. It wasn't long before Hagrid disappeared to join the crowd that had gathered to watch Harry and Ron make fools of themselves. Allbeit very funny fools.

"I see he hasn't changed one bit," Lupin said absent mindedly, watching Hagrid as he now attempted to join in with the game of limbo they appeared to be playing.

"Hagrid and alcohol do _not_ go well together," Hermione replied. Lupin turned to face her as an adorable grin crossed her face.

"What about you?" He said quickly, not wanting to stare at her without speaking for too long for fear of her noticing. She turned and met his gaze.

"What do you mean Professor?" she asked. Lupin usually basked in the sense of leadership he felt when he was called Professor, however Hermione was different. He would much rather she felt comfortable calling him by his name.

"Please," he said calmly, "call me Remus, I'm not your teacher anymore, therefore I feel no guilt in allowing you to call me by my name. Just don't tell the other kids." He grinned. Hermione laughed to the extent she let out a snort which Remus thought was adorable. He could tell she was embarassed so didn't draw attention to it.

"I mean what about you and alcohol," he went on, "you seem to be, what's the phrase, putting them away" he nodded at the glass in her hand. He guessed it was some sort of wine, elderflower probably, vile tasting stuff, when he was young adults at weddings and other family gatherings used to hand him a glass and say 'you're a big boy now Remus, do you want to try some grown up drink?' and he would always say no. They would give it to him anyway, too drunk to acknowledge his response. He'd always water it down because he just could not stand it. "Yet you don't seem to be any less dignified than your usual self. Now something tells me this is because one of two reasons," he took and step closer towards her so that they were merely inches apart. "Either by some miraculous turn of events you Miss Granger, have become immune to the effects of alcohol, or..."

Hermione looked shamefully at the ground. "Or I've been watering down my wine because I absolutely cannot bloody stand the vile taste of it." She widened her eyes as she realised what she had just said to him. His mouth curled into a smirk. She was brilliant.

"Professor I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

He cut her off before she could get any further. He explained to her he was here not as a teacher, but as a friend. As _her_ friend. And that she could relax around him, to back up his words he took an unopened bottle of butterbeer off the table, opened it with his teeth - one of the perks of being a werewolf - and handed it to her. Telling her no one would think any less of her for drinking it, least of all him. He took the glass of wine out of her hands, taking a sip to confirm his theory that it was indeed, elderflower. Yuck. He poured the remainder of the wine into a nearby plant pot. The plant died.

"And what did I say about calling me Professor?"

She listened to him and took a large sip, letting out a cute little hiccup. She set her bottle down as she asked him the very question he had hoped she would not.

"What was bothering you earlier, on the train?" She asked. "It seemed like you had something on your mind."

YES! His brain screamed. YES IT WAS YOU! I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN IN TWO YEARS AND HOW MUCH I WISH I WAS NOT YOUR EX TEACHER AND WHAT IS MY BRAIN DOING I DON'T KNOW YOU'RE SO PRETTY AFJDKSAJFKLDSJFKL.

"I just had a bad headache," Lupin replied calmly. He fobbed her off with some story about his transformation before realising she was Hermione. She would realise there had not been a full moon in the last few days. Surprisingly she didn't pick up on it.

"Oh right," she said quickly. "Of course, how was it?"

No one had ever asked him how his transformation was. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond. Mainly because he didn't know how it was. It just kind of... happened.

"Oh you know ...it was... fine," he stammered. Was it fine? Had he killed anyone? He had no idea. He hoped not.

Instead of worrying about what he had or had not done he joked about killing a few muggles. Below the belt he knew, but still, he thought he was funny.

Hermione did too, although she hit him gently on the arm in a I-can't-believe-you-said-that manner. Her touch made him quiver slightly. She took another sip of her butterbeer. He should of known how quickly the drink would affect her, he offered her some food but she declined. Not wanting to seem weak, he guessed. She seemed to effect him both physically and emotionally. He was not know for his habit of handing students alcoholic beverages. He had never even shook a student's hand. It was strictly teaching with him, all relationships had strict guidelines. His closest experience of a friendship with a student had been teaching Harry the patronus charm. Harry was a fantastic wizard and a wonderful friend, but Hermione had something else. Something he did not see in Harry, as much as he loved Harry like a son, he would never be able to replace Sirius, he would always be second best to him. There was something about Hermione that caused him to let his guard down and become a child again. This intregued him. Much of his childhood away from Sirius and James was spent in agony as he transformed to and from a werewolf, for some reason he felt he could really talk to Hermione. She would not judge him, she would not think badly of him, she would just... listen.

She took another sip, she had almost finished the bottle he had given her not two minutes ago.

Not wanting her to drink alone he grabbed one himself.

He had lost count of the things he had done that day which he probably shouldn't. But this was definitely one of them.


	5. Chapter 5: Five Hours Sleep

Chapter 5

~ Five hours sleep

Faster, faster.

Running through what looked like a field. She couldn't be too sure for as soon as she looked down her feet were no longer springting through grass, but over sand. Hermione was on a beach, running, but what to? Or more importantly, what _from_? Turning her head slightly trying to get a look at what was chasing her Hermione lost her footing and tripped, down and down she tumbled until just before she was about to hit the sand. But she never did.

Waking up, Hermione found herself sweating and panting as if she had indeed just been running. She had obviously let out some sort of noise for Ginny Weasley was sat at the end of the bed, looking worried.

"Are you ok Hermione?" Ginny asked in her sickly sweet tone. Hermione never let on to Ron, but she hated Ginny. Everything about her made Hermione want to scream, from her boring vocabulary to the way she always kept her hair in the same, dull, style.

"I'm fine," Hermione muttered, not making eye contact.

"Did you have a nightmare? I had one last night, dreamt I fell off my broom into the wom-"

"I said i'm fine Ginny," she said a little louder, now she had come to her senses. Ginny looked taken aback at Hermione's snappy reply, causing her to hastily apologize and return to her bed at the other end of the dormitory. Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up straight, wide awake. She glanced at the square alarm clock positioned neatly on the bedside cabinet; not so close that she was in risk of knocking it over in her sleep, but not so far away that she could not simply reach out and slam it every morning when it went off. Now it read three thirty. Harry's birthday was over, it was while she was trying to recall last night's events that a searing pain hit her forehead, causing her to wince a little. She had not had a headache like this since... ever. What had she drank last night?

Hermione spent the next three hours pondering what had happened last night - to no avail - while she washed, cleaned her teeth, started reading the first few chapters of Werewolves and Witches - a romantic thriller novel that she'd secretly checked out of the restricted section in the library. She borrowed Harry's cloak to do so ofcourse, she couldn't have anyone realising she was reading this fictional rubbish, she was really enjoying it though. So much so that when her alarm went off at half past six it almost frightened her to death, she had been so engrossed in the part where Ray - he was the werewolf - follows Hallie into this dark alleyway. He has only known her for a day but Hallie isn't the kind of girl you forget in a hurry, and Ray got the feeling something terrible was going to happen to her. He secretly follows her when she takes a short cut on her way to her friend's house, before realising that it is a full moon and he himself is the danger. Hermione's alarm had gone off just as Hallie heard a deafening howl echo against the walls, coming from somewhere very near to her. Too near.

After smacking her alarm and pulling on a cardigan, Hermione slipped her feet inside her boots and headed on down to breakfast. She knew it would be quiet; Ron and Harry didn't ever make it down until atleast eight. Nevertheless she thought she would try and catch Luna, see if she needed any help with her Ancient Runes homework, and more importantly, what she knew about werewolves.

Ever since Remus... or Lupin, she should call him, had returned, Hermione had got the sense something was not right, and being Hermione, wanted to find out what was going on and what she could do about it. Walking in to the great hall was like walking into a graveyard at this time in the morning, she counted twelve people in total: four Ravenclaws, first years sitting in one long line at the table discussing something about Professor Sprout and puking pastilles. Two spindly looking Slytherins, both girls with greasy black hair tied up in messy ponytails. A small Hufflepuff boy who couldn't of been older than thirteen sat at the far end, barely visible above the long table. He seemed to be practicing a levitating charm. It wasn't going very well. Professor Snape sat scowling as usual in his throne like chair, three spaces away from Dumbledore's seat, which was vacant. He was however, not scowling for the fun of it, he sat sneering at the person who occupied the seat next to McGonagall, five spaces down. His black eyes squinting as if he was trying to figure him out, the frustrated expression on his face suggested he was not being successful.

McGonagall sat on Dumbledore's right side, and had done for as long as Hermione could remember. Next to her however, was usually the chair occupied by professor Flitwick, who was currently taking a year off for 'personal reasons' -the rumour was his wife had left him and ran off with a centaur but no one could be sure of this- so the chair had recieved a new occupier.

Stark Phillips.

Hermione was clever, but she was no psychic, she left that (vaguely) to professor Trelawney. No, Hermione knew this man's name because she had seen him before, on the television at home, in the muggle world. He was a muggle, she was sure of it.

What was a muggle doing at Hogwarts?

She decided to shrug it off and continue with her quest to find Luna, who was sat halfway down the Ravenclaw table sipping a mug of green liquid that looked neither thirst quenching or consumable. She sat not more than a metre away from Neville who appeared to be reading a book upside down. Hermione had no idea why Neville was sat at the Ravenclaw table, nor did she ask.

"Hello Neville?" Hermione said somewhat questioningly, to which the boy sitting next to Luna uttered a grunt Hermione assumed to mean _hello Hermione how are you today _"Hey Luna," Hermione smiled politely. "You haven't by any chance finished the ancient runes homework have you?"

Luna shook her head and before even uttering an explanation Hermione was straight in there "oh! That's great! I mean, not great obviously but... can I show you mine? It's not _that _good but-" Hermione stopped herself upon realising that she was beginning to fall into her first-year self. Luna also looked pretty taken aback before reaching into her satchel and pulling out a muddy scroll. The scroll had been in perfect condition when they had recieved it. Hermione frowned a little but continued to talk on about runes.

Neville had managed to drown Hermione's voice out before she even finished her first sentence. A quick grunt of acknowlegement and he returned immediately to the dream status he had been in prior to her arrival. He was thinking, uncommon for him he knew, but he was really thinking hard about how to go about this problem he was having. Of course he liked Luna, he knew it, she knew it, the whole Gryffindor boys dormitory knew it and plagues him with abuse every night for it.

_When are you gonna ask Loony Luna out? _they'd say.

_Is her dad going to come along too?_

_He could write about your date in the paper!_

Neville didn't mind so much when Harry and Ron made fun of him, if anything he liked being acknowleged by someone so popular. It was when Seamus and Dean started on him that he really wanted to show them he could do it. He could ask a girl out, fo course he could. However that was not the problem he was pondering presently. No, the problem he was facing was much more difficult.

Last night Neville had been sleeping, _sleeping _being that he was led in his bunk staring vacantly at an article he had cut out from the back of the Daily Prophet on 'how to woo a girl - the wizarding way'. He had been suffering from insomnia lately and had been running on five hours worth of sleep for the last three days. When all of a sudden an almighty crash came from a few beds down. Nervously, Neville climbed out of bed and shuffled in his slippers down to where Harry usually slept. If anyone was making a ruckus at this time of night he knew who it would be. But Harry slept soundly in his bed, snoring gently. Neville looked around for the source of the crash but nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see. Standing in the corner of the room, crouching to the floor clutching his chest, was Professor Lupin.

The window opposite him smashed, the moon - which seemed somewhat bigger tonight - hanging in the sky like a giant gold ball, Neville took it he had come in - with ginormous force - through the glass pane; so many quiestions whirled in his head. The first being why had no one else woken up? The second being what on Earth was a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher that hadn't been seen in the school grounds for over two years doing in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory?

"Neville?" The man looked up with a facial expression that suggested he was just as oblivious as he was as to why, and how, he was here.

"Neville I... did you see..."

"See what Professor? All I... All I know is I was in bed. In bed reading a... the paper and I, then I just hear this crash and I came to see what it was and..."

"Ok Neville," the professor said, coming to his senses a little and standing to his feet. He brushed off his clothes which had been shredded to pieces as if they were designer garments. Not looking phased at the fact his tie which looked like it had once been a good purchase, had been ripped off just below the collar and his left shoe showed more of his foot than it covered. He put his hands on Neville's shoulders and looked directly into his eyes.

"But did you _see _anything?"

"N... No Sir" did he see anything? Should he even be calling him 'Sir'? Should he just run now and pretend he hadn't seen anything?

"Alright then," Lupin said calmly. "Then I think it's time you got back to bed don't you?" Neville turned and on his way back to bed searched longingly for an open eye or a tapping foot but to no avail, every single being in the room was asleep apart from him and a mental teacher that had just crashed through a fifth story window. Climbing back into bed Neville turned, not really expecting him to still be there. And he was right.

Lupin had gone, just as quickly as he had appeared.

The window had been repaired.

Needless to say, Neville did not get any more sleep that night.


	6. Chapter 6: Six o'clock Visit

It was common knowledge among the Slytherin House that Draco's father would be coming to visit this week. The boy had spent hours slaving away every night preening the common room, something he only did when he was expecting a visit from Lucius. It was a Friday night when he arrived, around sixish and of course making his entrance known to every wizard on the ground floor with a mind numbing racket as he scraped his cane alone the stone as he walked.

"Albus!" He roared. "Albus are you in there?" the man rapped at the door to the headmaster's office after muttering the password to his abode and swooping up the steps.

"He's not here." A voice spoke calmly from the bottom of the stairs.

"He's not h-" Lucius muttered to himself, "what do you mean he's not here?"

"I mean he's gone," Draco replied keeping his calm tone as his father paraded back down the staircase.

"He's gone where?" the man now stood directly opposite his son no more than a metre of space between the two of them.

"I... I don't know" Draco's stone expression was beginning to deteriorate.

"You don't know?"

Draco hated when he did this. His father had a way of repeating one's words back to them in a way so malicious that even the most intelligent of sentences would be made to sound like the ramblings of an infant.

"He left on Wednesday, they've been saying he won't be coming back for days. Monday they reckon."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. Something his son had said had peaked his interest.

"Monday you say. And who, might I ask, is 'reckoning' this?"

Draco gulped. "Teachers. Overheard McGonagall and Pomphrey discussing his whereabouts this morning. Neither have an idea where he is, all McGonagall said was she doesn't think we'll be seeing him unless at least the beginning of the week." This seemed to please his father and Draco relaxed a little.

"I want you to do me a favour Draco."

"Anything Father."

Lucius went on to explain the concept of the task he intended his son to carry out over the weekend. He spoke of a ring, no more than an inch thick. Silver in colour, or at least, it had once been. It was a very old piece, older than a lot of the other antiques Dumbledore kept hidden away in his office. True, it was not much to go on, for all Draco knew Dumbledore could have a thousand antique rings locked away in there, but of course the boy nodded and responded to his father's request to get him the ring with a "yes Father, I'll see it's done."

"No later than Sunday are we agreed?"

"We're agreed."

"You understand how important this is Draco do you not? If the Dark Lord is disappointed with our services -"

"I said I'll see it's done." Draco cut him off more for his own sake than anything else. He would never admit it, especially not to Potter and Weasle Beak, but you know who still frightened the life out of him. There was never a time the Dark Lord had been mentioned and Draco had not instantly become eleven again, lost and terrified in the Forbidden Forest with Potter and nothing but Hagrid's mangy old dog for protection.

This proved enough for Lucius and seemed to please him for now, with that the man turned, and with a swoop of silver and green he vanished. Nothing was left to prove his presence within these walls but a frightened looking blonde boy, wondering how on earth he was going to get out of this one.


End file.
